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Oakleaf red spots

Adam Polak
12 years ago

Hi all;

I have a newly planted Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Alice'. The plant is doing marvelously in its east facing location. It has grown over a foot since it was planted mid-April and has no signs of stopping. It has even put out two bloom panicles which are just starting to show their white color.

My question is regarding Cercospora leaf spot. The plant is covered on almost every leaf with little bits of red. Sometimes it is the leaf edge, sometimes it is in the middle of the leaf. it didn't start on the bottom of the plant, it just sort of happened all over in the past few weeks. I'm not sure if it is Cercospora leaf spot but it's the only thing I can think of.

In Canada, our assortment of Fungicide is rather limited since many fungicide/herbicides were banned a few years ago. The only thing I have available is an assortment that all cover the same things: black spot, powdery mildew, and rust. If any of you are familiar with the brand, I have Safer's Defender (Guarantee: 0.4% Sulfur). I have used it twice and it seems like even the newest leaves are still getting bits of red on them.

If I pick all the affected leaves off, the plant will be naked. There are no other Oakleafs in the garden bed, only a Pawpaw, Japanese maple, Cannas, and a dogwood.

Could it be water stress that is causing the coloration? The plant is very happy, I did not expect it to take off with such vigor this year. The spring was very very wet, and the plant got extra watering when the beds were finished being planted, along with the heat we've had on and off for the past month. Now we're about to be deluged by rain and storms for the next few days... I have no way to let it 'dry out'. The soil is reasonably well-drained, it retains moisture very well but doesn't stay sopping wet.

Any ideas? A home-made fungicide? Is it even Cercospora?

I would post a photo but I'm not actually sure how to do it on gardenweb!

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